Saturday, December 18, 2010

What we have here is one of the most adventurous and exciting forays into the fringe of extreme hardcore in a long time (the fringe of the fringe you might say). A.C.S. consists of two long time mainstays in the power violence underground, namely Matt Martin (ex CAPITALIST CASUALTIES) and Chris Dodge (SPAZZ, Slap A Ham Records, etc) teamed up with trained female vocalist Lydia Dodge who admits to not even liking power violence. The result is an experimental hardcore album that captures the imagination, revels in eclecticism, and still manages to rock your pathetic world. With only bass guitar, drums, vocals, and various key and tape loop embellishments A.C.S. do things with their music that I guarantee you've never heard the likes of before. Their uniqueness is so much a part of their sound that even from track to track they are vastly diverse. Whether it is a song like "The Basics" that has the flavor and directness of early NOMEANSNO or "Sakura" which is as close to "normal" power violence as A.C.S. gets or even the organ interlude "The Overlook", ANCIENT CHINESE SECRET will keep you guessing. Anyone interested in hearing something different needs to check this out. Folks who gravitate towards bands that reject the norm (MITB, GASP, etc) will find their new gods in A.C.S. because in a lot ways this album bridges the gap between the familiar and the bizarre. It has enough roots and simplistic pummeling power to connect it to hardcore fans yet is left of center enough to appeal to fans of music that is way "out there". Hopefully people are smart enough make the connection because it would be a crime if this album got lost somewhere in the middle. (Jeb Branin/In Music We Trust)

Track List:1. Waiting For Doctor Bombay2. A Nice Day3. Moral Of The Story4. ??? (Japanese Titled)5. Hyper Liar6. Obnoxious Fumes7. The Overlook8. The Basics9. Outburst10. Flight Or Fight11. Quiet For The Choirmaster12. Needle's Eye13. The Candle Burns14. A Passage Of Time

I picked this up the day it hit the streets. This was release #50 in the Slap a Ham Records catalog. Give it a listen and leave some comments on what you think about it!

Had this CD back around the time it came out, totally weird stuff! Probably hard to imagine what experimental powerviolence with female singing is gonna sound like... but i don't know how to describe it better, download this one!

Would you like to contribute? Have your band on here? Just chat?

A message from swampchode:

I originally started this blog with the intent to create an archive of New Orleans/Louisiana based bands demo's, EP's, full lengths and live recordings. My primary focus was to feature a little bit of everything going on in this great city. There are many bands past and present that have never gotten the recognition that they (in my opinion) truly deserved.

So I figured why not start converting all these demo tapes and etc. and share them with the world? But as I kicked the idea around on a few message boards and with friends, I decided to not just limit the page to Louisiana.

So here you will find artists from all across the globe, some may be well known, others may not. Here at Nola 504 and More, the Krewe and myself all have very unique musical tastes, which I think helps our page really stand out.

Yes, we may feature a lot of metal, but we also have punk, country, jazz, rockabilly, etc. Musical "gumbo" so to speak; meaning a little bit of everything. So, if you are/were in a band from Louisiana, or anywhere else in the world, and care to share it with the rest of the world, drop one of us an email. We'd love to check it out!